Excerpt: A Sacrificial Life
- uwiuccf
- Apr 15, 2020
- 2 min read
"It feels impossible based on past experiences and present selfish desires."
"If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
- St. Luke 9:23 -
Living for our own gain adds stress, pressure, and chaos to life, successfully robbing us of all the transcendent peace available through sacrificial living. We were never created to be our own provider or sustainer. We were never meant to develop our own source of joy and purpose. The only place we will find lasting peace is in complete surrender to God’s intention for us: a life of total sacrifice.
Jesus was our perfect model. He did everything according to the perfect and pleasing will of the Father. And Jesus said in ST. Luke 9:23-25 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” Jesus makes it clear that sacrifice is the gateway to finding the life God intends for us. It’s the pathway that leads to the perfect will of our heavenly Father.
If you’re like me, living life sacrificially initially sounds terrible and unattainable. It feels impossible based on past experiences and present selfish desires. But, we need to take time to know the God to whom we are sacrificing our lives. We need to renew our mind to the perfect love of Jesus who would lay down His own life for us before ever asking us to follow in His footsteps. The life God intends for you is better than anything you could discover on your own. If He’s asking you to live sacrificially it must be wholly and perfectly for your benefit.
We are not sacrificing our own wills, plans, and dreams to a God who has less satisfying plans for our lives. We are not surrendering a happier, better life for something less, boring, or meaningless. Jesus said in St. John 10:10, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” God has plans greater than we could ever ask or imagine in store for us if we will lay down our dreams to make space for his. He has inexpressible joy for us if we will exchange what has made us temporarily happy for His dreams and visions that are full of purpose, meaning, and adventure.
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